Movies
AFM ’11: ‘Truth or Dare’ Warns That “You’re Next”
First announced back in March was Corona Pictures’ teen horror thriller Truth Or Dare, which we just landed the AFM sales art for. My guess is our leading lady, who’s about to pop out of her dress, had a bad spin…
Robert Heath, who made the 2010 political drama Sus, directed the thriller “about five teenage friends who are taken hostage by a psychopath and forced to play a deadly spin-the-bottle party game.” The script has been written by Matthew McGuchan.
The cast includes a crop of upcoming young British actors including David Oakes (Pillars of the Earth), Jennie Jacques (Cherry Tree Lane), Liam Boyle (Awaydays), Jack Gordon (Fish Tank) and Alexander Vlahos (The Indian Doctor).
Get the long synopsis inside.“Five teenage friends are taken hostage by a vengeful psychopath and forced to play a party game with life-or-death consequences.
An end-of-year party for an ‘alpha’ group of first year university students turns nasty when a game of ‘truth or dare’ ends in humiliation for ultra-rich social misfit Felix. For five students at the gathering, this unpleasant but seemingly minor incident will have unexpectedly devastating repercussions.
Some months later, the friends meet again en route to a surprise party for Felix, who has been away traveling. Arriving at the venue – an old hunting lodge – they are met by Justin, Felix’s charismatic older brother, who explains that Felix will be late for the party. He persuades the gang to join him in getting drunk in his sibling’s absence, but psychopathic rage bubbles beneath Justin’s charming exterior, and the real reason for the gathering is revealed: Felix has committed suicide, and Justin is determined to find out why.
Anger explodes into violence as Justin overpowers his guests and a brutal and grueling game of ‘truth or dare’ ensues. Justin’s army training and sociopathic tendencies have equipped him well for the task of torturing his victims until he gets an answer and as the terrified hostages are questioned one by one, cracks appear as the friends turn against each other in desperation.
Their only hope is to work together and turn the tables on their assailant, even if they must risk their lives in the process. The scene is set for a shocking denouement as secrets are revealed on both sides and the tables are turned in a blood-soaked final confrontation…”
Now in its second week of release, the Radio Silence-directed Abigail is the third Universal Monsters vampire movie released in the last year, coming along in the wake of period piece The Last Voyage of the Demeter and horror-comedy Renfield. All three films have struggled at the box office, but Abigail at least has some good news to celebrate this week.
Renfield came along first in April 2023, ending its run with $26.4 million, while Last Voyage of the Demeter ended its own run with a mere $21.7 million. The vampire ballerina movie Abigail has already outgrossed both films, hitting $28.5 million at the worldwide box office this week.
The bad news is that Abigail‘s reported production budget was $28 million, so it seems unlikely to make a profit at the box office when you factor in the marketing spend and everything else on top of that figure. And that’s especially a bummer because Abigail is such a crowd-pleasing good time, with most horror fans agreeing that it’s one of this year’s best movies thus far.
The Universal Monsters brand has been struggling in the wake of Leigh Whannell’s hit The Invisible Man back in 2020, with these smaller spinoff movies failing to make their mark at the box office. Maybe it was never a good idea to release three low-key Dracula movies within the span of a single year, or maybe audiences just aren’t into vampires in general right now.
Whatever the case may be, Universal was smart to re-team with Whannell for a reimagining of the Wolf Man, which is howling its way into theaters in 2025. There’s a good chance that movie will blow the box office totals of Demeter, Renfield and Abigail out of the water, especially since it’s been a while since a Hollywood werewolf movie roared its way onto the big screen.
In the meantime, we expect Abigail will be coming home soon. Stay tuned for a date.
In Abigail, “After a group of would-be criminals kidnap the 12-year-old ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, all they have to do to collect a $50 million ransom is watch the girl overnight. In an isolated mansion, the captors start to dwindle, one by one, and they discover, to their mounting horror, that they’re locked inside with no normal little girl.”
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